Liquid spurt producing apparatus



April 7, 1953 c. R. SACCHINI 2,634,166

LIQUID SPURT PRODUCING APPARATUS 7 Filed Nov. 17, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

E j Cow/45w R54ccH/N/ BY W Z A ril 7, 1953 c. R. SACCHINI 66 LIQUID SPURT PRODUCING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 v INVENTOR. COLUMBUS IQSACCW/N/ ArTd/PA/gy Patented Apr. 7, 1953 Columbus 11.

Sacohini, Willoughby, Ohio, as-

sig'nor to The Marquette Metal Products Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 17, 1949, Serial Na 127,973

3 Claims- (01. 299-58) The invention relates to an improved system. apparatus and mechanism for automatically dispensing liquid in measured quantities under sufficient pressure to roduc a temporary jet or spurt of the liquid consequent upon performance of a simple'manual operation comparable to theilicking of; an electric snap switch, thus indicating the general object! The mechanism. and apparatus illustrated herewith is for controlled application of a spurt i cleaning liquid, such as water or de-icer fluid oil suitable nature in connection with vehicle Windshields and. the like wherein a wiper or squeegee (not shown) serves. to distribute the projected liquid onto the desired region of the glass. when the action of. the wiper alone is insuificient to maintain a. desirably clear or transparent area thereof to permit visibility therethrough. The apparatus preierably uses the. motive force oi compressed air or other elastic fluid under pressure to effect the necessary spurt action and valving after initiation of operation viz: to produce a stream or spurt of the liquid for a desired short period only and :finally to interrupt the application oi motive'iluid to ternitiate theoperation. The. above indicates inrther objects hereof; Others will become ap: parent from the following description of a preie'rred or illustrative form of, apparatus =In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an isometric perspective schematic view of the cleaner apparatus as awhole. Fig. 2 is a partly schematic assembly viewshowing the principal operating unitsA, B. and Q, the latt r being one of a plurality of, liqold-dispenser nozzles. Said units are shown in central longitudinal section;

= ,Unit A liig. l, is the partly manual and partly automatic control valve, the plunger of which is moved manually in one direction onlyv to initiate one cycle of operation of themechanism, the cycle through operation of a self-filling reciprocating pump (part ofiunit B), automatically producing a squirt of liquid from each of the nozzles C and 0 against the windshield surfaces F and F respectively and then automaticallyterminating the squirt and returning the control valve to initialposition. Unit B is a dia-.

phragm type accumulator (motivating mechanism andthe pump) which, assuming thepump has received va charge of cleaner liquid from rescrvoir unit 12 on the preceding cycle, expells its charge through the nozzles C and i3 during the instant cycle. a a

'- Eeierringto the control valve unit A, Fig 2, a

suitable constant supply source of compressed air-. (sourcenot shown) isintroduced to airinlet 26401 the .unit through pipe line 3, further ilow oi the. air being normally blo k d y a p u 4 pthrough the unit -A, the plug being carried on a small diameter stem or pintle portion 6 of another plug portion 1' of the plun er. Plu p tion 1 can, obviously, be moved to seal against the inner lip of a U-cup seal 8. The two seals 5 -and 8, their cooperating plug elements 4 and 1 and other parts clearly shown in Fig. 2 define a valve chamber In to which the compressed air is admitted when the plunger I is moved inwardly of the unit A to close seal 8 and open seal 5. 'The plugs have tapered lead or nose portions 4' and 1" to assist the plugs in entering the lips of the U-cup seals. 7

From valve chamber H! the compressed air leaves control valve unit A via a continually open port Ill of unit A and pipe line H and goes to diaphragm chamber l? which is the top part of the motivating mechanism and pump unit B; The unit B may comprise a pair of hemispherical shells i3 and I4 demountably clamped and sealed against the marginoi' an operativ l i perforate elastic diaphragm 15 forming thereby a liquid chamber it fully partitioned vfrom motivating air chamber 12. A tension spring serves auxiliary to the elastic diaphra m in producin suction on fluid in the. stora e reservoir D, the spring being centrally anchored by screw and washer assembly ilc to the diaphragm and secured to the top accumulator shell is in the air inlet and outlet opening 18 thereof by a ushaped hanger clip It. The lower coils of the spring I! are tightly screw threaded to the up wardly projecting threads of screw no forming part of assembly Fla. 6 I lump chamber it of the unit 33 (havingrbeen previously sucked full of cleaner fluid from reservoir D through flexible pipe line .29 past a hall check 2i as. will he later apparent) now has the principal part of its liquid content expelled (by air pressure in motivating chamber [2 into a discharge pipe-23 past ball check 24 to the 1102-.

Meanwhile a. pipe line 25 leading from the li s uid chamber it of the accumulator to the control valve unit A introduces ,li uid which is in open communication with said liquid chamber it. ofthe pump into a latching valve chamber 26 of said unit A formed around the stem po1 tion 2T of the plunger so that liquid at instantaneous pressure of that in liquid chamber is of the accumulator can act on a piston head 28, fixed to the plunger stem and temporarily hold the plug 1 in its seal 8. The piston device cor-i stitutes a hydraulic latch which maintains compressed air in the air valve chamber iii-and l1 preferablyv communicating motivating chamber 12 for the duration of the spurt or spurts at the nozzle or nozzles. The piston 28 has a return spring 29 in a suitable chamber or" the unit. As the plug 7 is caused to enter the U-cup seal 8 by hydraulic pressure on piston 28 the air trapped in the chamber containing the spring 28 leaves by way of a vent-inlet aperture 36.

The piston 28 is formed principally by a U-- cup seal 32 similar to or identical with those at 5 and 8, the seal 32 being held in position on the plunger stem 2'! by relatively enlarged diameter portions 33 and 33a of said stem. Another U-cup seal 34 embraces the stem portion 21 to form another wall of latch chamber 26, the remaining walls of the chamber being apparent from the drawing.

It may be noted at this point that the U-cup seals 5 and B are maintained in position by a hollow spool-like metal sleeve 35 in a body section 36 of unit A, the sleeve containingthe principal portion of chamber ID; that the sleeve 35 has the lateral port Ill formed therein for communication with pipe line H, and that a body section 38 threaded to its complementary body section 36 holds the sleeve 35 and its associated U-cup seals in position in section 3-8 by abutment with a metal washer 39. The sleeve 35 abuts a soft metal sealing gasket 39' opposite washer 39 to prevent escape of air from inlet 2 along and around sleeve 35 when plug 4 closes seal 5. The coil spring 29 acts on the washer 39 at one end and on the piston 28 atthe other to hold the plunger l in its illustrated initial position.

A valve such as represented by U-cup seals 5 and 8 and their cooperating parts is shown and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 125,676, filed November 5, 1949, entitled Check Valve.

The control valve unit A can occupy any convenient position in connection with the windshieldwiper installation. If the plunger l of the unit is to be arranged for operation by hand rather than by foot (either being considered manual) then the outer end of body section 38 usually has an annular shoulder 32 so that the unit can be supported at a hole in the usual instrument panel 43 and secured to the panel as by a ring nut 44.

Referring further to the operative relationship between the control valve unit A and the motivating mechanism and pump unit B it will be evident that when all of the liquid content of accumulator liquid chamber 16 has been expressed there- 5 from (diaphragm forced against or into close proximity to the shell M by air pressure in chamber l2) there is then no longer any significant hydraulic pressure on piston '28 of the hydraulic latch device due'to restricted bleeding ofi of pressure through the spurt applicator nozzles C and C" as will be described later. Consequently the latch is released or tripped permitting the plunger 1 to be returned (e. g.) by the spring 29 toward the initial illustrated elastic fluid supply blocking position. Meanwhile cavitation in the chamber containing spring 29, prior to the time the plug '1 is withdrawn from seal 8, is prevented by. the vent-inlet 30.

As soon as the plug 1 is withdrawn from the pheric pressure exists in motivating chamber l2. If the vent-inlet hole 30 is small enough to prevent abrupt fall in pressure of the trapped air as contact between plug '1 and seal 8 is broken by return movement of the plunger, then residual pressure (from motivating chamber l2) in the chamber of spring 29 assists said spring in returning the piston 28 to the initial illustrated position. Thus the spring 29 can be relatively weak and offer almost negligible resistance to manual operation of plunger I to initiate operation.

Since the hydraulic latch chamber 26 and pipe 25 connecting it to the pump chamber 13 are not vented, the chambers and pipe remain filled with liquid at the end of the described cycle. The diaphragm [5 during said cycle was returned to its illustrated position permitting the pump chamber to be recharged by suction (atmospheric pressure on storage chamber liquid in unit D). During upward movement of the diaphragm l5 the check valve 24 of the nozzle feed pipe is sucked to closed position to prevent back flow from the nozzles C and C" through pipe 23; and check valve 2! is sucked open t permit .the re-. charge of pump chamber IS with liquid. The valve 25 recloses as by gravity to prevent sub sequent loss of the pump charge into the reservoir D during the ensuing shutdown period in event of slight leakage anywhere in the system.

It is evident from the above that the operator has only to depress or work the control valve plunger l in one direction part way of its possible stroke, for as soon as compressed. air is admitted to the motivating air chamber l2 hydraulic pressure is immediately built up in the liquid pump chamber l6 hence the chamber 25 of the latching piston 28, thrusting the control plunger l inwardly to the end of its possible stroke; and that the mechanism resets itself after each spurt-accomplishing operation.

The applicator nozzles are of identical construction (as shown in Fig. 2). The nozzle de vice C illustrated comprises a two piece body with a tubular supporting and supply fitting section 59 and jet or tip section 5! coupled as by screw threads 52. The feed passage 53 in part 50 forms a seat against which a smooth metal ball 56 can move as by gravity to normally close the passage as shown. The outlet of the jet section 5| is a generally cylindricalhole 55 formed by internal serrations of generally triangular form so that the hole is of multi-pointed star shape intersecting the ball chamber 56 at an abrupt shoulder 51;

As fluid from the feed passage 53 of the noz-. zle impinges on the'ballfid the latteris raised to the broken line position and attempts toclose the serrated nozzle opening 55. The throttling of the nozzle opening by the ball produces enough back pressure on the liquid in the-pump chamber E6 to enable the previously described operation of the hydraulic latch piston 28 of control valve unit A. (The necessary throttle could beanywhere else in the delivery system of the liquid pump of unit B.) Since the ball 54 cannot wholly seal the serrated opening 55 as many tiny fluid streams as there areserraticns pass the ball and converge beyond it into a' single stream. The angle of convergence of the streams can be predetermined by varying the relative diameters of the ball 54 and opening 55. A smaller ball than shown produces a smaller angle of convergence or merging of the small streams into one farther from the nozzle tip than in case a larger ball is used.

In practice reduction in diameter of the ball 54 in relation to a particular size of opening 55 is limited by the fact that the ball can be so small as to wedge into the opening and not be certain to drop back against the feed bore 53 after each spurt-producing cycle of the apparatus. In that case the jet openings provided by the serrations would soon become cloggedby foreign matter which is free to enter the nozzle from outside the system. In normal operation the serration-formed openings are scrubbed and kept clean by the spurted liquid at each operation of the apparatus.

The efiective multi-ported orifice in the nozzle tip 55 may be formed by a hardened annular metal disc (not shown) having parallel or other serrations at its central opening, in which case the disc would be pressed into place as against a shoulder corresponding in position to nozzle shoulder 51, and the opening 55 would be a smooth bore. That manner of forming the orifice enables relatively inexpensive, i. e. not high distortion-resistant, metal to be used for the tip 5! generally.

I claim:

1. Spurt producing apparatus comprising a hollow body having a resiliently biased movable wall dividing it into variable volume pressure chambers for liquid and elastic fluid respectively, the liquid chamber having an inlet adapted for connection with a source of liquid and an outlet adapted for connection with a liquid dispenser eratively away from the inlet draws liquid from such source into the liquid chamber through the inlet check valve and'movement of the wall operatively toward the inlet forces the liquid toward the nozzle through the outlet check valve, a control valve comprising a hollow body connected with the elastic fluid chamber and having a valve chamber with plug means operable from an initial elastic-fluid-supply-blocl ing position to an acting position admitting elastic fluid under pressure to the elastic fluid chamber, the valve body having a vent for the valve chamber, and the plug means in its initial position opening communication between the chamber and vent for enabling discharge of used elastic fluid therefrom, liquid pressure responsive means communicating with said liquid chamber and actuated by a predetermined superatmospheric pressure value in the liquid chamber to hold the control valve plug means in said elastic-fiuid-supply-blocking position during the second mentioned movement of said wall, and means operable to return the plug means to its initial position.

2. spurt producing apparatus comprising a liquid pump and motivating unit formed as a hollow body with an elastic diaphragm dividing the body into a motivating fluid chamber and a liquid accumulator and pump chamber, the latter adapted for connection with a source of liquid and with a liquid dispenser nozzle, inlet and outlet check valve means so arranged in relation to the liquid accumulator chamber that tension relaxing movement of the diaphragm draws liquid from the source and opposite movement expels liquid from the accumulator chamber toward the nozzle, a fluid control valve connected with the motivating fluid chamber and having a control part movable froman initial position shutting 011 motivating fluid supply to an acting position admitting the supplyfor distension of the diaphragm, and a hydraulic latch device comprising a generally closed. cylinder connected with the accumulator chamber and a piston the cylinder connected with the control part of the valve in a manner to enable holding of the control part in said initial position, the cylinder receiving liquid from the liquid accumulator chamber for operation of the latch piston to hold the control valve in said initial position during the liquid expelling movement of the diaphragm.

3. A spurt producing apparatus comprising a self filling reciprocating pump unit adapted for connection with a liquid reservoir for charging of the unit and with a throttled outlet for enabling discharge of liquid from the unit while maintaining the liquid under substantial pressure, a pressure fluid operated motivating mechanism for said unit including a fluid pressure source operatively connected therewith for causing the liquid discharge operation, said mechanism including a body, a control plunger slidable therein and a biasing spring acting axially on the plunger, the body and plunger providing three axially spaced chambers one an inlet valve chamber for the motivating fluid, said inlet chamber having a continually open outlet to the pump, another a venting chamber having a relatively restricted outlet 'for spent motivating fluid and a third forming, with a piston portion of the plunger, a piston chamber continually connected with a liquid discharge portion of the pump, said plunger having two axially spaced plug elements one under the influence oi the biasing spring normally closing the inlet to the first chamber from communication with the motivating fluid source and the other under the same influence normally opening communication between the inlet chamber and venting chamber but closing when the first plug element is moved to open position by the plunger, said piston portion of the plunger being situated between the piston chamber and venting chamber, whereby, after the plunger is moved by action of its piston to open the inlet valve chamber to said motivating fluid pressure source the piston portion is acted upon by pump discharge outlet pressure through said connection of its chamber with the pump discharge to maintain said inlet valve open, and, when pump discharge outlet pressure diminishes, the plunger is returned to initial position closing the inlet valve in part by action of spent motivating fluid in the venting chamber on said piston portion and in part by the biasing spring.

COLUMBUS R. SACCHINI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,170,809 Gibbs Feb. 8, 1916 2,079,924 Phister May 11, 1937 2,114,558 Dismutes Apr. 19, 1938 2,142,056 Horton Dec. 27, 1938 2,221,071 Barfod NOV. 12, 1940 2,260,904 Horton Oct. 28, 1941 2,297,653 Horton et al Sept. 29, 1942 2,481,813 Bede Sept. 13, 1949 2,488,089 Mayo Nov. 15, 1949 2,540,290 Rappl et a1 Feb. 6, 1951 

